1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to a method and apparatus for mounting an aircraft engine to a wing of an aircraft. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for attaching a torque box strut to a wing of an aircraft.
2. Background
A torque box strut is a structure used to mount an aircraft engine to a wing of an aircraft. A known apparatus for attaching a torque box strut to the wing uses six strut-to-wing attachments, all of which are active under normal flight conditions. If one of the connections were to fail, the remaining five are sufficient to constrain the engine in all six degrees of freedom.
It is desirable that the torque box strut be made as narrow as possible so as to reduce drag and increase aerodynamic efficiency. There are, however, structural limitations on how narrow a torque box strut can be made. In known torque box strut designs, for example, there are five attachment points to the wing at the aft end of the torque box strut, including two redundant links. If the torque box strut is made too narrow, there will not be sufficient space to react to the required load. In known torque box strut designs also, another link, known as the “upper link”, tends to carry an excessive load. In a condition where the upper link fails, the other attachments become loaded beyond their intact loading conditions and must be sized accordingly to ensure safety.
Torque box struts having an extension of the aft mount have been proposed. Although such “extended torque box struts” tend to be more aerodynamically efficient and less structurally redundant than conventional strut designs, they have not been implemented because they do not provide satisfactory fail safe solutions.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that overcomes the above issues in mounting an aircraft engine to a wing of an aircraft.